Georgia Conflict Resounds at Chess Championships

Nine of the 64 women who qualified for the women’s world chess championship being held in Russia — including six from Georgia — are boycotting the tournament.

DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Russia’s military action in Georgia this month is having repercussions in an unexpected realm: the world of chess.

Nine of the 64 women who qualified for the women’s world championship, being held in the Russian city of Nalchik in the Caucasus, did not appear at the start of the tournament on Thursday in protest of the war. The nine, including six from Georgia, were disqualified.

In an Aug. 12 letter to the World Chess Federation, the Georgian women, including Maya Chiburdanidze, a former world champion, asked the federation to move the tournament to a different location, saying that Georgia was in a “state of war.”

A day later, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the federation, who is also president of Kalmykia, a Russian republic on the Caspian Sea, responded in a letter that the championship could not be moved for logistical reasons. He wrote that the war was “a terrible tragedy,” but that “in the current situation I appeal to all not to mix politics and sport.” He added, “All the issues should be settled at a chess board, and not beyond its limits.”

In addition to the six Georgian women, three others who signed their letter — Marie Sebag of France, Irina Krush of the United States and Tea Lanchava of the Netherlands — are boycotting the tournament. Ms. Sebag is ranked No. 7 in the world among women, Ms. Krush is No. 24 and Ms. Lanchava is No. 99. Five other women who signed the letter did show up and played their first matches.

Karen Zapata of Peru and Ekaterina Korbut of Russia also were no-shows. No explanation was given for their forfeits.

In a welcoming letter to the competitors posted on the tournament Web site, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia spoke of the ways the championship could bring people together. “I am confident that the World Championship will become a festival for all admirers of this fascinating sport and contribute to the development and strengthening of international relations,” he wrote.

This is not the first time that a world championship tournament has been embroiled in controversy. In 2004, the federation held the championship in Libya, and three Israelis, believing that they would not receive visas to enter the country — and concerned about their safety if they did — declined to play. A Swiss player who held an Israeli passport did not participate because, he said, he received his visa too late to make it to his first match.

In solidarity and also out of security concerns, three American players, including Boris Gulko, a former dissident in the Soviet Union, refused their invitations, as did Viswanathan Anand of India, the world champion.